Seasons of Affection
by Chawizawd
Summary: Dipper and Pacifica are the best of friends - but where is the boundary between being friends and something else? It makes matters more complicated when they only see each other in the summer... Rated T for coarse language and darker themes later on. Reviews are much appreciated [Dipifica, Dipper x Pacifica]. (and in case anyone who was wondering i do own the cover image)
1. Part 1 Chapter 1 : Stars

**ATTENTION! Before you start reading, there's a couple of things I wanna say here…**

\- **This fic acts as a prequel to my other story, Make a Living, in which Dipper and Pacifica are 15, but this one can still be read separately (check it out here -** s/11227626/1/Make-A-Living **)**

\- **It's not going to be fast – they won't be kissing or anything in the first chapter. As a great man once said, '12 year-olds shouldn't focus on romance, they should focus on Pokemon and pop-tarts'.**

\- **Feel free to review – compliments, constructive criticism, heck, I wouldn't even mind the occasional angry spark. Anything helps me to improve this fic as it goes.**

\- **Alex Hirsch owns all characters, I own the story, etc. etc., you get the idea.**

 **K mates, you can start reading now (I mean, assuming you didn't see the bold text and think 'Oh boy an author's note, just gonna skip over this…'). I hope y'all enjoy it!**

The mud-stains were not coming out of the carpet.

Dipper watched trying to hold back his laughter as the crowd of butlers tried to clean up the mess he and Pacifica had made on her parents 'favorite' carpet pattern. As if they couldn't just order some more in from Turkey or wherever it was they got their expensive rugs from. Still, it was fun to watch Pacifica barking orders at them. Her hair flew around behind her as she moved, and her dress, covered in dirt made her look even angrier. But Dipper liked it. He liked the new Pacifica. She hadn't tried to change out of her dress, she actually seemed to be enjoying being a little roughed up. She threw her head back and laughed as one of the butlers slipped on the mud.

Dipper had taken up residence on the stairs. The common-folk of the town were interspersed throughout the richer, invited guests. They had begun to mingle, contrary to what Pacifica's father had said, and a couple of them were going as far enough to dance. Dipper watched as Lazy Susan spun around in circles like she was looking for the Hide-Behind, pulling some poor fellow in a suit along with her. He couldn't help but grin. Imagine how boring this party would've been if Pacifica hadn't let these people in! Well, he would still be a block of wood or he would've burnt as the mansion went up in flames.

Pretty boring if you asked him.

'How awesome is this party?' asked Pacifica, walking over to him. Dipper smiled at her as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

'Yeah, I'm loving it,' he said. Pacifica frowned at him.

'You don't look like it, you're sitting on the stairs!' she said.

'Well, I just needed a br –'

'Come on!' she interrupted, grabbing his wrist and pulling him onto the dance floor.

'Pacifica, I don't know…' he said. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him.

'Afraid of a little dancing?' she teased. Dipper rubbed the back of his head.

'Well, actually, the last time I tried to dance with a girl I –'

'Save it, Dipper! This is our night! You're probably not going to come to a party like this again in your life, so live it up while you can!'

She intertwined her fingers with his and they started to circle around in no particular fashion, much like everyone else on the floor. Dipper watched her while they spun. He had never sen her smile like this before – not up close. She actually looked _nice_. He was dancing with a new girl, different to the one he had known before tonight. Her face was filled with joy as they laughed and danced and laughed and danced.

o00o

They both collapsed onto the stairs. Almost an hour had passed since the towns-folk entered the party and both Dipper and Pacifica were worn out. Dipper rubbed his head.

'Aw man, I think I'm getting dizzy,' he said. Pacifica punched him lightly in the arm.

'You were great, Dipper! All the other boys I've danced with are rich, snobby people who only care about themselves, and they don't want to have fun, they just want to look sophisticated.'

'You just described yourself!'

Another, harder punch in the arm.

'OK, before tonight I mean.'

Pacifica shifted in her seat so that she was facing Dipper.

'But seriously, Dipper, you were awesome! I've never had so much fun in my life!'

'Thanks, Pacifica,' he said. They sat in silence for a while, watching the people go about their business, laughing and smiling and dancing. Eventually the music changed to a waltz, and all the couples in the room got up and went to the center of the room to dance. Pacifica stuck out her tongue.

'Ew, this music is definitely not my style,' she said. Dipper stood up.

'Is there anywhere else we can go? I'm all danced out for one night, I just need to relax,' he asked, looking down at her. Pacifica crossed her arms.

'We're in a mansion, dummy, of course there are other places we can go,' she replied, getting up herself, 'Come on, I'll show you!'

They headed up the stairs and onto the second floor. Pacifica wasn't lying, this place was massive. The hall's roof was so high up that Dipper couldn't tell what the pattern on the ceiling was – it was too tiny. Pacifica led him into a library and started looking through the shelves.

'Ah, this is my kind of place,' Dipper said, sitting down in a chair and stretching himself out. Pacifica found what she was looking for but didn't take the book out.

'We're not staying here,' she said, and she pushed the book into the back of the shelf. There was a faint click, and a fireplace started to move into the floor, revealing a passage with a ladder leading up into the roof. Dipper stood up.

'Cool, huh? I stumbled across this a few years back – it leads to one of my favorite places in the house.'

'I've seen magical fireplace doors before,' said Dipper, ducking into the hole. He looked up and saw that the ladder extended another storey upwards. He grabbed the rungs and started to climb, Pacifica right behind him.

'Hey, Pacifica, where does this ladder lead?' he asked.

'You'll see.'

When Dipper reached the top of the ladder, he gasped. There was a room half-filled with boxes and paintings, scattered around the place, not much unlike the one he had captured the ghost in. This room was brighter though. There was light from the lower floors coming in through the floorboards, lighting the room a nice shade of yellow. It felt homey. There were a couple of sofas around the place, a shelf full of books and even a small cable TV with a collection of movies. Dipper felt like the mansion had its own little Mystery Shack, kept secret from the rest because of how low it would be to spend time in here.

'I usually come here when my parents are mad at me or if I just need some alone time,' Pacifica said, appearing behind him. She walked over to one of the bigger boxes.

'This place looks like the Mystery Shack,' said Dipper, 'I thought you would've called this a hovel.'

'I clean here pretty regularly, plus I'm the only one who knows about it, so it's not like anyone else is coming up here.'

'I know about it now,' said Dipper. Pacifica laughed. She started to drag the box back, and Dipper felt a blast of cool evening air brush up against him. There was a hole in the wall that led out onto the roof. It looked like it had been made with little thought – there were tiles lying on the ground, some of them broken up. Pacifica smiled at him.

'I like this room too, but when the weather's nice, my favorite place is out here,' she said, stepping through the hole in the wall. Dipper followed and emerged into the night. The cloud cover had dispersed and the sky was ablaze with stars. Pacifica scrambled up the tiles until she found a flat section of roof.

'Come on, Dipper!' she said. Dipper followed her path, trying not to slip on the tiles. He sat next to her and leaned up against the tiles behind him, looking up at the stars.

'I had fun tonight, Pacifica,' he said. Pacifica smiled softly at him.

'Me too, Dipper,' she said, bunching up her legs to conserve body warmth, 'I'm sorry for lying to you about the whole ghost thing…'

'Hey, it's OK,' he replied, 'I get it.'

'Thanks,' she said. They returned to looking at the sky. A meteor flew by, leaving a trail of stardust in it's wake. It was… beautiful. Dipper had never fully appreciated the night sky before he came to Gravity Falls. Piedmont was small, but it was surrounded by another city, so the light pollution blocked out a lot of the stars. This sky was majestic – he could see the bands of the Milky Way spread out across the cosmos. And he couldn't forget Ursa Major – the Big Dipper. He touched a hand to his forehead.

'Dipper?' Pacifica asked lazily, turning to face him.

'Yeah?' he asked, looking back at her.

'Are we friends?'

'Of course we are, Pacifica, what kind of a question is that. You saved my life tonight, I'm just about obligated to be friends with you.'

Pacifica smiled at him. She looked back at the stars and ever so slightly touched his hand with hers.

Dipper understood. He moved his hand so it was on top of hers. She needed comfort. Dipper had seen what her parents had been doing to her, it was wrong. More than that, it was cruel and disgusting and it made him sick. She deserved to have someone who would be there for her. It needed to be him.

Pacifica squeezed his hand and they watched the skies in silence, the faint sound of music coming from a few floors below.

 **Thanks for reading! As I said, fluff will ensue. I know roughly where this fic is going, but I'd love a review or two for ideas and feedback.**


	2. Part 1 Chapter 2 : Dirt

**Thankyou to all my readers so far! 11 follows already, and I've only done one chapter, wow! Thankyou to BooBear4997, MrZealous21701 and LimitlessHorizons for your reviews. I'll answer any questions left in the reviews at the end of each chapter, so if you want to ask questions about the fic or anything in it, just keep your eyes peeled! In the mean time, enjoy this chapter!**

Although her parents had initially enforced it, Pacifica now went for morning jogs on her own will. She enjoyed the feeling of her light sports clothes, the wind against her skin, the sun shining down on her as she ran. It was an escape, mainly; she would jog when she was upset or disappointed or just needed to get away from her parents. She had managed to entirely avoid punishment for her actions two nights ago by sleeping through the whole day. Luckily, the butlers were on her side and managed to persuade her parents that she was unwell after the party. God bless them.

For some reason, when she woke up late the night before, after napping through most of the previous day to recover, her room was in a mess. The furniture, the ornaments, even her bed looked like they had been tossed around. The doors had been locked so the butlers couldn't have come in to fix anything, but she let them in once the sun had risen to fix everything up, while she went out for a run. The butlers hadn't explained why the furniture had moved, and Pacifica didn't wait to find out. She wanted to get out of the house before her parents were awake enough to stop her.

She stopped to take a sip of water from the water bottle she'd been carrying and noticed that the town was in chaos too. _How did I not notice this before?_ she thought, screwing the lid back onto the bottle and continuing to run. She passed cars that were parked crookedly, the asphalt of the road was cracked in some places, some of the buildings were damaged. It looked like there had been an earthquake… but how had Pacifica not felt it? She was on the second story of a house on top of a hill – logicaly, she would've woken up to it. Perhaps she was just so out of it, too exhausted from the night before from spending too much time up with –

'Ouch!'

Pacifica felt herself being pushed back into the ground . Her clothes did a particularly bad job of protecting her as she fell – she felt the skin on her elbows burn as they hit the pavement. Another thud sounded in front of her. She rubbed her head, looking to see who it was.

'Dipper!' she said, getting up. Dipper had fallen on his side, and he was struggling to move on his arm.

'Pacifica?' he asked, trying to push himself up, but he fell back down onto his wrist. She came over and grabbed his good arm, pulling him up.

'Are you OK?' she asked. Dipper shook his hand loosely and winced with pain.

'I'm fine, it's just a little sting,' he said, taking his wrist in his other hand and massaging it gently. Pacifica sat down on a park bench and gestured for Dipper to sit next to him. Once he joined her on the seat, she carefully took his wrist and looked it over. Dipper had never thought Pacifica could be caring for others – she only seemed to care about herself. She really must've turned over a leaf at the party; she was a completely changed person.

'It's sprained, Dipper,' she said, giving him back his arm. Dipper shook his head and started to get up.

'I'll be fine,' he said again. This time Pacifica got up and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. When he turned around, he met a very cross but anxious expression plastered on her face.

'No, you won't Dipper, we need to get you to a hospital.'

o00o

Dipper had never been to the Gravity Falls Hospital before. It wasn't overly big, and as such the waiting room ended up having more people in it at any given time then it should. People hurt themselves in weird ways all the time in this town, so Dipper's sprainked wrist seemed rather tame. Dipper tried to avert his eyes from the man with a miniature crocodile gnawing on his ear, watching the seconds tick by on the clock.

'Why did you bump into me anyway?' asked Pacifica, sitting next to him and sipping water from her bottle, 'it doesn't seem like something you would do.'

'I... I had a bad day yesterday,' he said, lowering his head. Pacifica frowned.

'What happened?' she asked, shifting a little closer to him.

'Well, you know how gravity went haywire yesterday,' he asked. Pacifica looked oddly at him.

'Is that why all the furniture in my room was messed up?' she replied. Dipper just nodded.

'Yeah, probably. How did you not notice?'

Pacifica looked away and blushed a little, 'I was asleep all of yesterday,' she said. Dipper let out a chuckle.

'I'm not surprised,' he said, 'Anyway, the reason that gravity stopped working is because my uncle secretly had a giant portal in the basement of the Mystery Shack and he was powering it up to bring his brother back, who was actually the author of the journal that I used to save us from the ghost the other night…'

Pacifica blinked. What was that? Had she caught any of that? She decided to let him continue his story.

'… and then when Stan wanted to keep the portal open even though I thought it could've brought the whole house and even the world down on top of us, Mabel chose to trust Stan… even though we… we didn't even know if he was our great-uncle… and she just…'

Dipper got up and ran out of the waiting room just before he started to cry. Pacifica felt an instant need to help him, to cheer him up, despite the fact that she'd never needed to stop a boy from crying before. She didn't know that boys were meant to cry. Were they? In any case, she got up, shouted something at the woman at the desk about coming back later and chased after him.

o00o

' _Oh no, I've lost him,'_ she said, running through the streets of town. She stopped next to a pâtisserie to catch her breath. The cakes that were on display looked delicious, but she couldn't stop for long. She had to find Dipper. Something about Mabel betraying him. Pacifica just couldn't stand to see him cry.

The cakes sniffled.

Wait, no, cakes can't breathe. She looked towards an alley up ahead and walked over to it, peering around the corner.

There was Dipper, dirty and sad, sitting on the ground next to a dumpster and cradling his injured arm on his lap. Usually, she wouldn't go anyway near someone like that. When she for walks, sometimes she would pass that old loony guy – what was his name? Nugget? Mucket? – looking through some garbage can for food, and she would quicken her pac, trying to avoid any possible infections. But, for some reason, she wanted to comfort him, no matter how dirty he was. She walked into the alley and sat down on the ground next to him.

'Hey,' she said. Dipper pulled his legs into his chest, hiding his face. Pacifica smiled sadly at him.

'Look, Dipper, I don't know what you're going through right now – I've never had any siblings and my parents are such big liars that I've never trusted them anyway, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you.'

Dipper's sobs echoed through the alleyway. Pacifica shuffled a little closer to him. She could literally feel the dirt collecting on her shorts, but she didn't care. She almost welcomed it.

'I know how important your relationship with Mabel is to you Dipper, but I've got your back. I believe you Dipper.'

At this Dipper raised his head and started bawling his eyes out. He put his hands on his face to muffle the sound, albeit with little effect. Pacifica put a hand on his knee.

'Shhh…' she said, calming him down. After a few minutes, his crying died down.

'Breathe,' she said. Dipper took a couple of deep breaths and his composure returned to him. He dried up his eyes and looked at Pacifica. She was smiling at him. He could feel his cheeks stinging from the tears, his face and eyes were red and his hair was a mess.

'Thanks, Pac…' he started, before pausing to take another breath. Pacifica waited for him.

'Paci…' he said again, before starting to laugh. Her name had too many syllables, and he was still recovering from the breakdown before.

'Paz?' asked Pacifica, joining in with his laughter. Dipper nodded and stood up.

'Yeah, Paz,' he said, looking down at her. She looked so out of place, sitting in the dirt and grime of an alleyway. Then again, he probably looked the same, 'that's your new nickname. Pacifica is too long.'

'I like it!' she replied, getting up and standing in front of him.

'Thanks for cheering me up, Paz.'

'No problem, Dip,' she replied, smirking. Dipper laughed once again but was cut off by her throwing herself at him and pulling him into a hug. Dipper frowned a little and waited for her to back away like that night at the mansion, but she squeezed him tighter. _Woah, this is genuine…_ Dipper thought. He closed his eyes and hugged her back, making sure to be careful with his wrist. He was glad she wasn't wearing her expensive clothes, otherwise he would've been worried about dirtying them. Her hair smelled of lavender mixed in with the musty scent of the alleyway. After a few more seconds she pulled back and put her hands on her hips.

'You're not going to offer me any money?' he remarked. She punched him lightly in the arm.

'Of course not, doofus, were allowed to hug, we're friends now.'

Dipper smiled at her. She actually looked kind of cool when she was a little dirty, her hair decorated with flecks of brown and her tank top and shorts looking greyer than they should be. Her cheeks were a little red, but Dipper couldn't remember when she had cried. She turned away and pointed back towards the road.

'We should get back to the hospital, they'll be expecting you,' she said.

'Yeah, right,' he replied as they walked out of the alleyway and into the light of day.

 **Thankyou for reading! Please follow or favorite if you're enjoying the story so far. Reviews are also much appreciated, as they help me to improve the story and write what people want to hear!**

 **Now, to follow up some reviews…**

 **BooBear4997, thankyou for your suggestions – as you may notice I implemented the 'cute nickname' idea you proposed into this chapter – hope you like it!**

 **LimitlessHorizons – thankyou for another positive review, and I'm glad you're enjoying my writing, I'm really encouraged by your support =) Also, I use apostrophe's in my stories rather than quotation marks because in a lot of the books I read, apostrophes are used instead of quotation marks for speech, and to be frank, I can't be bothered holding the Shift key down every time I want to say someone is talking – it's a habit now, I guess.**

 **Also thanks to MrZealous21701, I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and thanks for your review!**

 **I'll see you all soon with a new chapter. Don't forget to check out my other fic, Make a Living (** s/11227626/1/Make-A-Living **). Peace xo**


	3. Part 1 Chapter 3 : Light

**Hello again everyone! Thanks for all the new followers, a couple more favorites and a couple more reviews (MrZealous21701 and Fysical, I'll answer your questions at the end). Remember, if you have questions or just want to leave me some feedback, a review is much appreciated. Thanks!**

'We are not lost.'

Dipper and Pacifica were sitting on a log, somewhere in the forest. They had already lost the bag that Dipper had brought along, and Dipper was now hastily flicking through the pages of his journal, looking for anything that seemed like their current surroundings. Pacifica was starting to get nervous. She had only ever been to the forest when her parents went out hunting and that one time that the butlers took her through a 'shortcut' to get to the waterfall.

'Are you sure?' she asked, trying to look at the journal. Dipper was skimming through the pages so fast she didn't have enough time to get good look at anything.

'Aha! I know this place!' Dipper exclaimed, standing up. He showed one of the pages of the journal to Pacifica.

'Leprecorn?' She rolled her eyes, 'That's not funny.'

'Why does everyone say that?' he replied, flicking to the next page, 'Look, these trees are the same as the trees in the Leprecorn's habitat, and if we find one, it will be able to show us the way out of here!'

Pacifica smiled sadly at Dipper. He was such a dork, but at least he'd found a way out of this godforsaken forest. She got up.

'Lead the way.'

They walked for at least half an hour. Pacifica had worn her trainers but her feet were starting to get sore. Why did she choose to come with Dipper? He had asked her if she wanted to go on an adventure with him into the forest, and she just felt a compulsive need to say yes. She didn't know what it was, usually she would never go into the forest with anyone. She assumed that it was because Dipper would know what he was doing. He went on mystery solving adventures all the time with Mabel, so presumably he should know how not to get lost.

Pacifica was scanning the area around her for any signs of a path or track when Dipper put out an arm to stop her. She was about to talk but Dipper put a finger to his lips and pointed through the trees. A white glow was emanating from the trees, with the occasional dash of color spraying out.

' _Don't make a sound,_ ' he whispered. Pacifica nodded and they crept into the trees towards where the light was. It was ridiculously bright… Dipper lowered his cap over his face and Pacifica lifted a had to her forehead to shield her eyes. They stood still for while, and after their eyes got used to the exposure, a creature came into view. It was a small unicorn, with rainbow tail and beard and a shiny white horn. Pacifica almost gagged when she saw its face though – a weird looking mug with a massive nose, swollen cheeks from smiling too much and topped with a tiny green hat. The creature looked drunk and was singing some sort of happy-go-lucky tune while dancing with so much enthusiasm that its feet might fall off. Dipper cupped his hands over her ear.

' _I'm going to calm it down, just stay right where you are,_ ' he whispered. She nodded vigorously, still enthralled by the sight in front of her. Dipper took a deep breath and suddenly ran into the clearing where the creature was frolicking. Pacifica resisted the urge to yell and stood her ground. Dipper disappeared into the light and Pacifica heard a shout come out from the brilliant gleam in front of her.

'TOP O' THE MORNING TO YA!' Dipper yelled. The glow stopped almost immediately and the Leprecorn was left in the clearing, staring straight at Dipper with its big wet eyes.

'Oh! Hello there!' the creature said in an unmistakably Irish accented voice. Dipper nodded at Pacifica and gestured for her to come over.

'Are you the Leprecorn?' asked Pacifica, walking over to stand next to Dipper.

'Aw, sure look it, don't it?'

'Look, Mr Leprecorn,' Dipper began, 'We need you to show us the way out of this forest.'

'A way out? Good lord, I haven't left this forest in donkey's years, I'm not even sure I'll be able to remember. Let me think for a second.'

The Leprecorn closed his eyes and strained his face like he was thinking. His horn started to glow and a rubber duck appeared and landed on the ground.

'Oh dear. Please don't tell me I've forgotten how to use me magic…' he said, kicking the duck away and thinking in his head once again. Pacifica nudged Dipper in the arm to get his attention.

' _Can we really trust this thing?_ ' she whispered, Dipper simply shrugged.

' _He's our best bet at the moment,_ ' he breathed back.

'I… think… I've… got it!' the Leprecorn said. His horn started to glow again and this time a long stick appeared, hovering in the air.

'Aaaand how is this going to help up find our way out of the forest?' Pacifica asked, crossing her arms.

'It's magic o'course, much like my beautiful self!' said the Leprecorn, trotting on the spot, 'Now, just step back a little way and let the spell do its work!'

They did so, and once they had moved out of the way, the Leprecorn's horn stopped glowing and the stick dropped to the ground on its end. It wavered a little before falling down, pointing into the trees.

'That way!' exclaimed the creature, gesturing with one of his legs towards the trees where the stick was pointing. Dipper scoffed.

'Seriously? You summoned a stick and now you're telling us to go which direction it fell in?'

'To be sure, to be sure! The Leprecorn's are a powerful race, it don't take much for us to figure out spells!'

'You literally just materialized a stick and dropped it on the ground!'

'Are you sassing me, sonny?' he said, his tone suddenly changing, 'Gosh, if I were a human I'd be trusting in what the magical Irish unicorn were tellin' me, wou'ntcha say?'

Dipper and Pacifica stared incredulously at him.

'Oh , fine, don't believe me! It's not like you have anythin' else to go on!' the creature replied, turning around and kicking out his back legs. Pacifica shook his head at Dipper and walked over to the Leprecorn.

'Thank you, sir,' she said, bending down and and rubbing him behind the ear, 'We'll follow your directions.'

'Aw, thanks,' he replied, his leg twitching in delight at being petted, 'Tell your friend here he needs to go beyont and get himself some new attitude!'

'Hey! I heard that!' Dipper yelled. Pacifica got up and walked back to Dipper.

'Come on, let's go,' she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the trees. She turned around and waved at the Leprecorn. Dipper grumbled as they walked.

'I still think we could've found our own way out,' he said, pouting. Pacifica made a baby face at him.

'Aww, cheer up Mr Wet Blanket,' she teased, 'it's not like your nerdy book has a map in it.'

Dipper was silent, trying to think of an argument. Pacifica started to laugh.

'You're right, Paz,' he resigned. Pacifica shrugged and put a hand on his shoulder.

'I always am,' she replied, the setting sun appearing as the forest receded behind them.

 **I kinda blurted out this chapter. Sorry if you don't understand some of the Irish expressions (sure look it, beyont, donkey's years, etc.) - it just adds to the authenticity. No real intimacy in this one (if that's what you're reading for, I'll include some more in the next chapter). Remember, if you have questions about the story or any suggestions, remember to leave a review. Now, to respond to some of the reviews.**

 **MrZealous21701 – thanks again for another review. These chapters are connected – at the moment I'm just developing Pacifica as a character and her relationship with Dipper, but over time they will become a more connected story. I guess I just enjoy writing long chapters _**

 **Fysical – thanks for your feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I don't actualy support the Candip ship – but, I could incorporate a jealousy element (perhaps Mabel is trying to set Dipper up with Candy and Pacifica gets pissed at her). Thanks!**

 **Willigog – Ahaha, thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far (please don't die, I'll continue this)**

 **Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	4. Part 1 Chapter 4 : Sleep

**Hello all! I'm sorry I haven't updated either of my fan-fics in a while, I've got exams coming up and I haven't had much time to write whatsoever. Thanks to all my new followers and favorites, it's much appreciated. I might disappear again for a while after this chapter, hard to know, but I will be back once the winter holidays kick in (cuz Southern Hemisphere) Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and if you liked it, I'd really appreciate a review! Thanks!**

Dipper had been right about the Northwest Mansion's little 'secret' room that Pacifica liked to escape to. It _was_ cozy. Somehow Pacifica had managed to sneak him into the house without her parents knowing. Dipper had tried to ask Pacifica how she did it with the butlers walking around the place, and she simply replied with 'we're in cahoots'. He was glad that he was able to spend time with her – now that she had reformed, her old friends were unsure how to behave around her. Plus, Pacifica was basically the only other friend Dipper had in Gravity Falls his age aside from Mabel, and he'd almost forgotten what it was like to have friends, remembering his small band of mates back in Piedmont.

Dipper was sitting in a small sofa, not unlike the one that Grunkle Stan basically lived in back at the Mystery Shack. His figure moulded with the cushions, and he was quite comfortable, watching a horrible alien movie on the UTBAHC. Pacifica was lying on the floor in front of him with her legs sticking up behind her.

'Hey, Dipper,' she said, pulling her hair out from underneath her body, 'can we hang out like this more often?'

'Yeah, I don't see why not,' Dipper replied. Pacifica yawned.

'Cool!' she said lazily, shifting on the floor a little. She didn't look comfortable at all, laying on the ground like that. Dipper wondered whether he should ask her if she wanted to sit on the couch.

'Tomorrow,' she continued, combing her hair with her hands, 'we are going to get you some new clothes.'

'We?' replied Dipper, slightly shocked. He was perfectly happy with the clothes he was wearing.

'Yes Dip, we,' she said, curling her locks in her fingers, 'Let's face it, if you come back next summer and you wear the same stuff every day, we aren't going to be able to be friends.'

'Why not?' asked Dipper. Pacifica decided to stop pretending to pay attention to the movie and rolled over to face him.

'Because, dummy, you'll be a teenager. The hormones will arrive and you'll stink up every place you go if you're not wearing a clean set of clothes. I'm not dealing with that.'

Pacifica still had her sass. That Dipper didn't mind so much.

'I guess…' he resigned. Pacifica clapped her hands above her head and tried to roll over again.

'What time should me meet up?' she asked, in the process of turning back onto her stomach.

'I don't know, 10? That's when the mall opens, so it shouldn't be too busy.'

'Cooooll…' she replied, now lying spread-eagled on the floor. Dipper gave in, she looked horrible, sprawled out on the ground.

'Do you want to sit on the couch?' he said. Pacifica yawned again and dropped her head onto the floorboards.

'Hmm… I'd better not, I'll probably just fall asleep,' she replied drowsily. Her yawns were infectious.

'I don't mind,' he replied. Pacifica smiled and got up, collapsing into the couch. It was a 1.5 seater, ample size for two 12-year-olds to share, but Pacifica ended up sitting much closer to Dipper than he would've expected. He looked over at her. She looked… diffferent, was probably the best word. Because they had been up here since 8am, Pacifica had neglected to put most of her make-up on. She had ditched the ludicrous purple eye-shadow for the day, and although Dipper could definitely see some foundation on her cheeks, she had no eye-liner, her eyebrows looked fairly normal and her lips were a natural shade of peach. Her hair was even more out of place – lying on it for a solid three hours hadn't helped. Her bangs were uneven and her hair spread wildly out from her scalp and down her back. Dipper imagined having hair that long, how hard it would be to look after it. Then again, he supposed she would have maids that did her hair for her. She yawned again and pulled her legs up onto the cushions.

'Diipperr?' she asked, her voice slurred. She clearly needed sleep. Dipper wondered how much she'd managed to get last night.

'Yeah?' he replied. She acknowledged him by shuffling a little closer and pushing his arm out of the way so that she could squeeze her head underneath.

'Can we be besst friendss, pulleasse?' she asked, looking up into his face. Dipper tried his hardest not to blush. He briefly recalled the times he used to spend with Wendy, but shook the thought out of his mind. She was just tired, and dealing with the parents she has, she probably needed comfort. Wait, was that a please? Last time he heard her try to use manners, she'd mispronounced the word 'sharing'. Dipper yawned, the disease was taking him over.

'Uh-huh,' he replied, stretching his arms over his head. Pacifica smiled and put her head in the crook of his neck, her eyes barely open and trying to watch the T.V., huddling up to his body. Uh-oh. Now he had to put his arm down. He didn't want to wrap it around Pacifica's shoulder, she might take it the wrong way, so he awkwardly placed it on the back of the couch instead.

'Mmmmm… you're comfy Dipperr…' she said, nestling in closer. Dipper was really starting to freak out at this point. What does she want? Is this what it's like being best friends with a girl? Dipper was best friends with Mabel too, but they play-fought more often than they did this sort of stuff – plus, they were siblings. What Pacifica was doing right now made no sense; he couldn't come to a logical conclusion, he couldn't figure out why –

Pacifica closed her eyes and gently placed her hand on his leg. A rush of calm flowed through his body, echoing through his muscles and bones. He wasn't sure why, but now he wasn't so tense. He brought his arm down from the top of the sofa and wrapped it around her neck, letting his hand hang loose over her arm. Apparently Pacifica didn't agree and shifted once again so his hand was on her shoulder. Dipper leaned up against her too. Her hair smelled of musk today. Dipper felt himself start to slip away.

'You're pretty comfy yourself, Paz…' he replied, letting his thoughts go as the darkness of slumber swallowed him up.

o00o

Dipper woke up slowly, not at first noticing the sleeping girl using him as a pillow. Both of them had shifted during their rest, and were now squeezed onto one cushion, the other side of the sofa being completely ignored. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Pacifica's body curled up into his own. He still felt drowsy, but knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep – not with Pacifica stealing all his body warmth anyway. He brought his fingers up from her shoulder and ran them through her hair. He didn't know why, maybe he just wanted to see what it felt like, if it was fake. It felt real. He couldn't be sure. He tilted his head to the side to whisper into her ear.

'Paciiificaaa,' he said. She didn't twitched a little. He kept trying.

'Paz, come on sleepy beauty, it's time to wake up.'

'Huh?' she bumbled, stretching out her body. She was conscious, at least – she might not be awake yet, but she could use her senses.

'Paz, I need to go in a minute, Stan and Mabel will be getting worried.'

'Ohhh…' she replied, wrapping her arms around him, 'but I want you to stay here…'

'Me too, but I have to go,' he replied. Pacifica giggled, let him go and got up off of the sofa, catching her balance.

'Did you sleep well?' she asked. Dipper nodded.

'Best sleep I've had in a while,' said Dipper. Pacifica smiled at him and picked up a sock off the ground, throwing it at him.

'Come on, you, you'd better get home,' she said, fetching his shoes from the corner of the room while he put his socks back on.

'So we're meeting at the mall, tomorrow at 10?' he asked as Pacifica returned with his shoes.

'Yeah,' she replied. Dipper finished putting his shoes on and stood in front of her.

'Can I have a hug?' she asked, looking shyly at him. Dipper laughed.

'The past 2 hours weren't enough?'

'It's not the same when we're asleep,' she mumbled. Dipper pulled her into an embrace, and she warmly hugged him back.

'Thanks for today, Dip,' she said over his shoulder. Dipper smiled and squeezed her. He was happy that she was enjoying herself – that's always a good thing, for anyone. After sneaking down into the library, Pacifica got one of the butlers to call Stan to come and pick him up. They crept out of the house and through the gardens to the gate. Pacifica waved him off, and, for some reason, Dipper found himself looking forward to going clothes shopping the next day.

 **Fluffy enough? Yeah, this chapter might be going a bit over the top considering that they're twelve (I don't remember what I was doing when I was twelve, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't this), but it doesn't seem too over the top. If I was best friends with a girl, I'd imagine doing this kind of stuff (yeah, at this point they're still only friends, although Dipper is starting to wonder whether she likes him or not).**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, please leave a follow and a favorite, and a review if you can (I really appreciate the feedback). To all my followers, thankyou for reading, and I hope you're liking the story. Thanks to Dipper D. Pines and Please Don't Shoot for their reviews – thanks for the support! Anyway, I'd best be off, I've plenty of homework and revision to do. Peace xo**


	5. Part 1 Chapter 5 : Clothes

***mumbles about focusing too much on this fan-fiction instead of my other one*  
(DEAR FANS OF MY OTHER STORY IM SORRY THIS ONE WILL BE GOING ON A TEENY WEENY BREAK SOON AND I WILL WORK ON MY OTHER ONE SORRY BYE)**

 **Anyway, enjoy this chapter, leave a follow and a favorite if you're enjoying it, review if you want (I respond to reviews at the end of each chapter).**

'Well? Do you like it?'

'I don't know, Paz, I don't think it suits me.'

Dipper was standing in front of a mirror in a boutique with clothes that he had deemed as too expensive. Pacifica had insisted on avoiding the department stores, saying all the clothes they stock there are 'home-brand' and 'tacky'. Dipper had refused to set foot inside the bright pink and white shops claiming that he could feel his eyes fizzing as he stepped near to them. In the end they had settled on the middle class stores – not over-the-top expensive but not too daggy either. Pacifica had stripped the shelves of anything remotely close to being Dipper's size, and the pile of rejected garments was growing larger by the second.

Dipper was wearing a light plaid jacket. It was flannel, meaning that it would keep him warm but it wouldn't get too hot during the summer. He liked the colors, but he still thought it didn't quite work on him.

'Dipper, you're wearing an orange polo with a red and black jacket, of course it's not going to look good,' she said, fixing up the material around his shoulders. Dipper pulled a skeptical face and Pacifica rolled her eyes, taking a plain white t-shirt off the ground and holding it in front of his chest.

'Better?' she said, looking over his shoulder at the mirror. Dipper thought for a moment then shrugged, taking the t-shirt and throwing it onto the much smaller pile of clothes they were going to buy.

'Is that enough yet?' he asked, removing his jacket. Pacifica looked thoughtfully down at the pile of clothes to be purchased and put her hands on her hips.

'I guess it will do for the summer,' she began, 'but I want you to have new clothes next year – these ones won't fit you by then.'

'So you're assigning me homework?' Dipper asked, bending down to pick up the pile of shirts, tops, jackets, jeans and a new vest. Pacifica pointed her nose at the ceiling and crossed her arms.

'Yes, I guess I am,' she said. Dipper shook his head and hobbled over to the counter, trying not to spill his load. The clerk was that guy that Dipper sometimes saw around town cheering for people – he was one of the Love God's groupies.

'Is that all today?' he asked, looking piercingly down at Dipper, who responded with an incredulous stare.

'What, is this not enough?' he replied. The guy behind the counter looked skeptical, but Pacifica saved him just in time.

'Yeah, that'll be it Tyler,' she said, having finished putting all the rejected clothes back.

'Oh, hay, it's Pacifica Northwest! How's it going? Love the party last week by the way, the oyster forks are SO much fun to play with!'

'You should've seen my dad's face when he found out that Tyler had made a tower of them on the dessert table – oh my god it was _priceless_ ,' she whispered to Dipper.

'That'll be two hunnit and forty,' said Tyler, scanning the last item. Dipper frowned and shoved his hand into his pocket, while Pacifica pulled out her purse.

'Paz, I'm sorry, but I've only got one-fifty, I'm ninety bucks short,' he whispered. Pacifica stopped scrounging through her purse and stared at him.

'You want to pay? Dipper, I'm practically made of money, this purchase is like a week's pocket money for me.

'Woah seriously?'

'No, I get way more than two-hundred.'

Dipper shook his head as Pacifica pulled out some notes. Tyler packed the clothes into bags and gave Pacifica the receipt.

'Have a nice day, you two!' he said, waving them off.

'We will!' Pacifica replied. Dipper tried to wave but he couldn't lift his arms from carrying too many bags.

Pacifica trotted along next to him and took one of the bags. She seemed to be in her comfort zone here.

'Wasn't that fun?' she asked brightly. Dipper groaned.

'My arms are going to fall off if we don't sit down soon, they're already starting to get tired.'

'Come on, then, let's get something to eat.'

o00o

Dipper sat at a small round table across from Pacifica. He had insisted on paying, saying that it was the least he could do, but Pacifica had ordered a double scoop. When Dipper began to complain, she retaliated by saying her parents always bought her triple scoop when they went out. Dipper decided to treat himself and get a double as well – a luxury he had never indulged in until now.

Pacifica was an expert at eating ice-cream – or so it seemed. She had already finished the first scoop, cookies and cream, and was now working on the chocolate. Her tongue worked the stuff with absolute precision, taking up loose bits and the drips that ran down the side and gathering them into her mouth. Dipper's cone looked atrocious. His peppermint had almost completely merged with the boysenberry underneath, melting on top of it. His hand was only saved by the large number of serviettes that he had to hold his cone with in order to keep them from getting sticky.

'I think you need to give me lessons,' he said, trying to mimic her actions. Pacifica looked at him over her cone.

'Eating ice-cream is an art form in of itself, Dipper. One does not simply teach or learn the art of eating a double scoop cone.'

'So you can't teach me?' he replied. Pacifica rolled her eyes.

The next ten minutes was spent with Pacifica making wild motions with her tongue, whilst Dipper tried to imitate them and watching his ice cream crumble before him.

'Just bite it,' she said, crossing her arms and leaning back. Dipper lowered his head.

'I can't, I have sensitive teeth…'

'Then man up, boy! Do you want the seven bucks you paid for that to be worth it or not?'

Dipper hastily wolfed down his cone and had to take five to wait for his incisors to stop stinging.

'Aww, my hands are all sticky now,' he said, showing Pacifica. They were green and white, with the occasional streak of red. Pacifica laughed.

'Come on, you idiot, let's go find a bathroom so you can wash up.'

o00o

Dipper emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his hands together. Pacifica, refusing to stand near a male lavatory had waited at a juice bar just across from it. Dipper walked back over to her and picked the bags up off the floor.

'Here, I'll carry some this time,' she offered. Dipper looked disbelievingly at her.

'Hello? Who are you and what have you done to Pacifica Northwest?' he joked. Pacifica laughed and stole half his bags from him. Before Dipper could redistribute his weight, he felt his hand being squeezed. Dipper looked over at Pacifica.

'What? I like clean hands, they feel nice, got a problem with that? Are you worried someone might see us and think we're on a date or something? Gimme a break,' she teased. Dipper felt his cheeks grow hot. He turned his face to the ground. No he wasn't on a date with Pacifica, they were just hanging out, shopping together. He felt butterflies in his stomach. He looked back at her, with her long blonde hair and perfect skin and deep blue eyes…

 _'Oh no, no no no no. I'm not going through this again. No. Pacifica is your friend! You've known her for less than a month! Then again, you barely knew Wendy when…'_

 _'Damnit, Dipper, get it together. Focus. She's just your friend, your best friend. You can't betray her like this! You can't get lost in her hair and her eyes and her…'_

 _'Uh-oh'_

'Let's go, Paz,' he mumbled. Pacifica smiled at him and squeezed his hand a little tighter, as they headed towards the exit.

 **Yeah, you can probably see what's developing here (I mean if you can't there's something wrong. Am I writing this correctly?). THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS ON THE LAST CHAPTER – I am still going to individually reply to each one (this may or may not continue, depending on how this fic goes, but for the moment I'm gonna be loyal)**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – Oh, wow, thankyou! Best ever known to you, that's pretty high praise. I'm glad your enjoying it – and I made a little side note in my head not to forget the emotion. Sorry if I'm not updating every day – I have a busy life (gotta keep working on my deviantArt too, as well as school). Thanks so much!**

 **Fysical – Thanks for a couple more reviews. Most likely I won't have a schedule because my life is pretty hectic, but I will try to update every week or so (at the very least, couple of days if I can manage it)**

 **MrZealous21701 – Hey, thanks for another review. I'm glad you think I got the girl-boy best friend thing on target – I was really worried about that. I haven't read your story yet – I'll get to it eventually though.**

 **Or-lan-do626 – Aww thanks. . /tumblr_lzvfs3grwT1r6jyp7o1_**

 **CookYllen – YES SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WAS CUTE *ahem* You can imagine them as 14 (it's a fanfic after all), but I'm trying to write like their twelve – it's hard anyway cos in the show they act like they're about 14… anyway, thanks for the review.**

 **Also got a guest review – Glad you like the story! Never heard the word adorable shortened to 'adorbs' before… maybe I'll use that in a future chapter!**

 **OK IM DONE TRYING TO INCREASE THE WORD COUNT, BYE! Peace xo**


	6. Part 1 Chapter 6 : Time

**Hello everyone – sorry that it's been a couple of days, but I've just launched into a 4 day weekend – hopefully I'll be able to get some writing done over the next couple of days and upload some new chapters.**

 **This will be the last the chapter in the first part – there will be two more parts to come after this one. As always, favorites, follows and reviews are much appreciated. Anyway – enjoy!**

Dipper and Mabel always organised their own birthday parties. After all they were the experts. Back in Piedmont, they had a massive scrapbook full of ideas for birthday parties. Despite most of their ideas clashing, they found a rare few that they would elaborately plan, plotting every detail. This year, however, they did not have the scrapbook. Mabel wanted to make it the best birthday party ever, before they said goodbye to their friends in Gravity Falls. Mabel had stayed up all night brainstorming potential themes when Dipper came up with a brilliant idea.

'Can't we just have a regular old birthday party?'

'What do you mean, _regular old_?'

'You know, a birthday party themed birthday party. With all the goofy party games and party food and presents.'

'Dipper! That's perfect!'

'It is?'

Mabel then proceeded to take out the drawing board, while Dipper went to get some Mabel Juice.

o00o

The party was going fairly smoothly. Dipper had not asked for presents, but his friends had still brought them. He had not neglected to get gifts for them as well – after all, he was leaving Gravity Falls within a week, and it was best to make sure he got them all something to remember him by. Leaning against the totem pole, he looked out at his friends. Soos was swinging at a piñata, Mabel and her friends were dancing to an Ampersandra song that Dipper had forgotten the lyrics to, Wendy was watching Pacifica try to pin the tail on the donkey and Stan was quietly counting the money that Dipper had received from Soos' grandmother and Mabel had been given by Robbie's parents. He didn't know where Stan's brother was – he wasn't around most of the time anyway, probably down at the bunker or the lab. He had given Dipper a present though – a nice journal, empty, that he could write in, rather than messing up his own.

'Alright party people, let's have some fun! It's karaoke time!' Mabel called. The guests gathered round and Mabel switched the machine on. Pacifica jumped up on the stage.

'The last time I did this,' she said, looking out at the small crowd, 'I was trying to be the stuck up little brat that I was half a summer ago. It's thanks to Dipper and Mabel that I've changed as much as I have.'

Dipper noticed her give him a small wink, and he smiled back. Classic Pacifica. As the music started to play and Stan slipped in from the presents table, Dipper found himself lost in thought about her. How long had it been since the Northwest Fest now? A month? Two? He wasn't sure. But he knew that now they were best friends, and they'd need to try their best to stay in touch. He was worried that she would go back to being what she was – and there was no way he was coming back to a bossy and disrespectful Pacifica.

Her voice was beautiful. The last time she had sung was when he had come over to her house one day to hang out in the secret room, but thanks to the place's irrefutable quality of sending you to sleep, she was out of tune and her volume was all over the place. Now was different. She hit the right notes, she slurred the right consonants and flowed through the song with a side-to-side sway that fitted it perfectly.

Once she had finished the song, she held the mic above her head to call for an applause, and was greeted by a chorus of hands. She bowed, ran off the stage and came over to Dipper.

'How was I?' she asked. Dipper smiled at her as Soos got up onto the stage and started to beat-box while Mabel sung.

'That was great, Paz, wish I could sing like that.' She blushed a little and fiddled with her hair. Dipper noticed that Pacifica had not dressed up for his and Mabel's party. Rather than her signature purple and pink outfit, she was wearing a loose striped t-shirt and a pair of torn jeans and a very pretty bow in her hair. She looked like she was trying to dress like Mabel, and Dipper actually quite liked it on her.

Mabel finished her song and the karaoke continued – Wendy did a fantastic rendition of 'Anything you can do I can do better' with Stan, Candy and Grenda harmonized to a BABBA song that Dipper unfortunately found himself mouthing the lyrics to and Pacifica even dragged Dipper onto the stage to sing.

 _'I am going to kill her,'_ Dipper thought as he sung, looking down at Pacifica smirking and holding back her laughter in the audience. He didn't know how badly he did, but everyone clapped him when he finished, so he assumed it hadn't been too horrible.

'And you said you couldn't sing!' Pacifica said, shoving him playfully. Dipper shrugged.

'I didn't know I could, but you're definitely going to pay for making me go up there.'

'Good luck catching me!' she said, backing away and sticking her tongue out. Dipper shook his head and made like he was going to chase her, but didn't even bother, she was way too fast. Instead, he let her run circles around him and returned to the party food table, stocking up a plate with food.

'Aww, you're no fun Dipper,' she pouted, putting her hands on her hips. Dipper put a sausage roll in his mouth and licked the sauce off his lips.

'Yeah, well, you're way faster than me,' he said through a mouthful of meat and pastry, 'and plus, I can't be bothered right now.'

'Dipper' she replied, grabbing his arm, 'this your last week in Gravity Falls! I won't see you for nine months, and I just wanna have a good time!'

Dipper surprised her. He put down his plate and turned around, grabbing her shoulders.

'Gotcha!' he said. Pacifica squirmed enough that she flew out of his hands and fell backwards onto the ground.

'Come on, Paz, I'll give you a five-second head start, this'll be just like on the playground in junior primary.'

Pacifica got up quickly, brushed her jeans down and smiled at him.

'Hurry up!' he said. Pacifica laughed, turned around and ran, Dipper chasing after her. Boy he really needed to get fit. After a while he noticed she was running laps around the Mystery Shack, and Dipper decided it was tactical retreat time. He pulled back and started to run the other way, cutting her off and forcing her to go into the house. Perfect. This door was the only open one at the moment, the gift shop door was locked. He turned around and locked it, trapping them inside. Now he just had to find her.

o00o

Pacifica had realized that she was stuck. Dipper had locked all the doors and there was no way of getting out of the Shack. She had taken refuge in a closet that had several empty boxes in it that smelled faintly of gunpowder. She noticed a light switch, turned it on a picked up one of the boxes once her eyes got used to the exposure.

 _'Rockets?'_ she thought. That was what was written on the box. Perhaps they were fireworks. Just the kind of thing that Mr Pines would keep in the Mystery Shack. She could still hear Dipper's running footsteps, bounding through the Shack looking for her. However, after a while, they slowed down, and then stopped. Pacifica smiled. He was trying to draw her out. Not going to work, buster. He was really impatient, and she knew that within about 10 minutes he would be up again and searching for her.

However, after half an hour, there were still no footsteps. She decided to take a risk and poke her head out the door. She looked around.

Nothing. Squeezing out of the door and careful not to make a sound, she tiptoed down the hall and turned into the living area.

There was Dipper, lying asleep on the couch with his dorky journal laying on top of him. She was cautious to make sure that he _was_ asleep – it could just be a ruse to get her to come over, but his even breathing told her otherwise. She took her shoes off – leaving her socks on so that she wouldn't need to expose her feet to the hideous shag carpeting – and stood over him.

He looked so cute, lying there. His hair was messier than usual, and the clothes he was wearing were some of his favorites from when they had gone shopping a few weeks ago. Pacifica found a space on the couch and sat down, careful not to shift his weight too much. She smiled at him. His mouth was closed – he was breathing through his nose.

She picked up his book and as she did, his hand fell down and landed on her leg. She felt her heart beat faster. Why did she like this guy so much? He's dirt poor, lives with a con-man and has literally no social standing at all.

 _'Because he's sincere with me,''_ she concluded. Pacifica felt the warmth in her chest spreading to the rest of his body. She got an idea. Quickly looking back at the door to make sure no-one was watching, she bent down over Dipper's face and, covering his face with her hair, pressed her lips ever so gently onto his. Her first kiss! Well, not really. Did it count if they were asleep? She felt her chest heaving as she pulled back. Dipper must not find out about this.

She decided that since she could not return to the party, she would make the most of the occasion, and instead curled up on top of Dipper and felt herself drifting off to sleep.

'Happy birthday, nerd.'

o00o

Dipper woke slowly. His journal had gotten heavier. And bigger. Wait, hang on. He opened his eyes and looked down to see Pacifica curled up against him. He didn't freak out. He was used to this. She had probably ended up hiding and had gotten bored, found him and realised there was nothing else to do since the doors were locked. He smiled. She looked at peace, smiling in her slumber. She had a hand on his chest and another one dangling down to the ground.

Dipper, as was his custom when she was asleep, stroked her hair. He had asked several times if it was natural, and she had always responded with the same answer – she didn't know. Dipper had just learnt to accept it. It was beautiful hair, he couldn't deny. She had told him that she washed and conditioned it whenever she could, and would have weekly check-ups with the maids to see how it was going. Her hair was her most valued assset. The bow she was wearing was a little out of place, so he fixed it up for her.

She shifted a little, bunching up her legs. Dipper was trying to figure out how he would get up without waking her. Dipper felt himself brushing as the sleepy hand on his chest moved up to hang behind his neck. He hated to admit it, but he had one hell of a crush on Pacifica. It had kind of developed over the past few months, and now he was reminiscing about the times that he had liked Wendy.

Pacifica's face was so close to Dipper's, he felt his heart beating faster. He could feel the cool from her nose as she exhaled. He got an idea. Looking over to the door to make sure it was still locked, he moved his head closer to hers and kissed her on the forehead. She was still asleep. Thank god. She couldn't find out about this.

He felt himself drifting off again. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and closed his eyes.

'Thanks for everything, Paz.'

 **WOAH! That chapter was long. Lel nervous twelvies being nervous twelvies (well technically Dipper is thirteen now). I've written a bonus chapter to satisfy you all in the break, so I should have that up in a couple of days. Review responses down below – and don't forget to leave a review if you have any questions or comments.**

 **Cal-Pal - thanks for another review. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor - thanks, I'm happy that you can relate with my predicament! There is (as I hope you've noticed) some more development of both of their feelings in this chapter - of course, they don't want to tell each other yet.**

 **MrZealous21701 - Wow thank you, favorite author, that's pretty high praise considering I started doing these about a month ago! Thanks.**

 **Or-lan-do626 - Damn right son.**

 **Fysical - I do from this point forward have most of the story planned out - however, I really appreciate the suggestions and I'll try and incorporate the ideas I like. Thanks for your continued support.**

 **Guest - Ahaha thank you.**

 **SO THAT'S THE END OF PART 1 FOLKS. As I said, I've written a little bonus chapter for y'all to read while I start on Part 2, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Peace xo**


	7. Bonus Chapter : Valentines Day

**Because I get the feeling that you people want to keep reading Dipcifica. Padippica. Whatever the hell they call it.**

 **I'm actually really proud of this chapter, and I think I did an excellent job considering I wrote it at 11pm at night *pats self on back*.**

Pacifica yawned. It was morning, the sun filtering in through her wide windows. There was a large pile of presents in the corner of her room – she had been thirteen for a couple of days now. Nothing much had changed, as with every previous birthday. She pulled back the silk sheets and, slipping on a dressing gown over her pyjamas, walked over to the mirror. She had never really liked how she looked without make-up. It could've just been her upbringing, or perhaps it was something all girls felt. She didn't know. Her best friend was a guy who had no fashion sense, barely a dollar to his name and lived in another state, so she didn't really have anyone to consult on the matter.

She missed Dipper.

School had been tough, and often she wished Dipper was there. She could see his goofy smile, his stupid hat and his funny little nose. His long and messy hair, the way he always had his head buried in a book, his adorable thinking face, his sweet demeanor and his lovely brown eyes…

Pacifica had sustained a hopeless crush on Dipper over the course of the past six months. It had been difficult, but they video-chatted once in a while, often staying on the line late into the night. She had no idea how she had managed to hide it, it seemed ridiculously obvious to her, since that night at the Northwest Fest last year he had been a constant presence in her mind.

She had been particularly worried that her feelings would surface when they spent they day together in her hangout – a secret room in the roof of her mansion. Often they would end up sleeping on the couch together. Dipper clearly hadn't minded – he certainly hadn't objected. There were the times they went shopping, or mystery solving as well.

Pacifica was more troubled by the fact that they weren't in a relationship – they certainly behaved like they were. She had reasoned with herself several times about what being his girlfriend would be like, but she couldn't see any holes other than the whole living in different states thing. They were basically perfect for each other. Or was that just her newly acquired teenage mind telling her that? She didn't know.

She studied herself in the mirror. Pacifica had not had her hair cut since September – it was quite long now, and she pulled it around her body to check for split-ends. Her face was clean of pimples, the odd spot here or there but that could always be hidden with a bit of concealer. She didn't look too tired…

Pacifica had always been confused about why her figure had exploded over the past year. Most girls her age didn't have much cleavage at all – and if they did they were mere unnoticable curves on their chests. Hers were alarmingly large at this point, and she was starting to get annoyed at how uncomfortable they were in the dresses her parents made her wear for expensive dinners and snobby family get-together's.

There was a knock at the door.

'Yes?' she called.

'It is I, Miss Northwest. I have some letters for you,' called the familiar voice of her personal butler.

'Thank you, Jeremy, but what are they for?'

'It is February the 14th, Miss Northwest.'

Pacifica groaned. ' _Valentines Day…_ ' she thought. Pacifica opened the door and took from Jeremy a pile of at least thirty envelopes, most of them expensive and some even imbued with scents. She put the down on the floor and sat cross-legged in front of them, hastily sorting through them. She came across some with aromas that she liked, briefly stopping to smell them, before moving on. There was one with a pine smell that she particularly liked, but she didn't bother to do much more than glance at it.

Near the bottom of the pile, she came across something different. Her fingers were interrupted by a rough letter, plain white. She was about to dismiss it as some fan boy from the town trying his best, but gave it another chance when she saw the word _Piedmont_ on the back. She flipped it over and…

'Oh my god!' she squealed. It was from Dipper! Dipper had sent her a Valentines Day card! This was a dream come true! She sat down on her bed and tore open the envelope. She didn't bother to look at the front of the card, but opened it straight away.

 _Paz,  
I'm sorry if this takes a while to get to you, I tried sending it early, but you know how the California post system is. Happy birthday! Thirteen! You've caught up to me now, what am I going to do? Hope you're getting on alright – I assume your parents got you plenty of stuff to fill up your room with. I miss you heaps – can't wait to see you again in June! There's a little present in the envelope – I thought you might like it.  
From Dipper._

Pacifica lay back down on her bed and started to laugh. It was just a birthday card that had arrived late. She was about to take the card over to her desk when an idea came to her. She rummaged through the pile of actual Valentines Day cards on the floor until she found the pine-scented one, and spent a good five minutes rubbing it against Dipper's card to give it some of the smell. Dipper Pines. Ha, she was a funny one. She put the card on her desk and read it again.

'A present?' she said. Looking at the ground, she noticed another slip of paper sticking out from envelope. It was a photo. Taking it out, she felt a tear form in her eye. It was a picture of her and Dipper at one of their finest moments. She had come over to the Mystery Shack one day and had refused to walk on the shag carpeting, so Dipper had piggy-backed her through the house, with Mabel not missing the opportunity to get some happy snaps. Dipper's face was a mix between really pissed off and having fun, and hers was filled with worry, trying to keep her feet off the floor as Dipper threatened to drop her.

'I miss you too, you big nerd,' she said, putting the photo up on her desk with the card. She read it again and again, and after the umpteenth reading, Jeremy's voice rang out again reminding her to have a shower before eight.

Pacifica got up from her chair, still holding the card. She pressed her lips to the 'Happy Birthday' written on the front and closed her eyes.

'I love you, Dipper,' she whispered, before putting the card back down and heading into her en suite for a shower.

 **Stay tuned for Part 2 (the second summer)– should be up soon. They both like each other now, so prepare yourselves for a fluffiness overhaul. Reviews are always appreciated, as are favorites and follows. I'll do review responses in the next chapter... I'm far too tired right now (sorry for being a slacker). Peace xo**


	8. Part 2 Chapter 1 : Return

**Wow I'm focusing far too much on this story. (I PROMISE, THE NEXT CHAPTER THAT I UPLOAD WILL BE FOR MY OTHER STORY** **J** **)**

 **Anyway, this is part 2. Both Dipper and Pacifica are thirteen years old now, Dipper will turn 14 at the end of this part. I'll try to do six chapters once again, but we'll see what happens. Enjoy!**

 _WELCOME TO OREGON STATE_

The Pines were coming back. Despite their absence, Gravity Falls had gotten along fairly swimmingly without them, much to the twins disappointment. They had become celebrities of sorts there. Dipper had frequently made the _Gravity Falls Gossiper_ for his various defeats of monsters during the previous summer, and Mabel had had a dip in community columns, giving fashion tips and dating advice.

Both of the twins had grown taller – Mabel now boasting an extraordinary two millimeters of height over Dipper. Mabel's fashion sense had not changed though, although she had taken to wearing legwarmers, blaming it on her 'hypothermia-prone ankles'. Dipper had ditched the vest and was wearing a polo and a pair of jeans.

'So kids, what are you looking forward to the most about going back to see your great-uncle?' their mother asked, reading a magazine she had picked up at a gas station.

Mabel elbowed Dipper and grinned at him. Of course she would. She had known for a while about his crush on Pacifica, and unfortunately for him, she would rub it in his face whenever she could.

'Dipper is looking forward to seeing –'

'All our friends that we left behind!' Dipper interrupted, throwing his hand over his sister's loud mouth. Their mother simply lowered her glasses and glanced wryly at Dipper with a smirk on her face. Dipper felt his face go red.

'Just don't do anything stupid, son,' their father, looking through the mirror at his children, 'I don't want you coming home and telling me you left a girlfriend behind.'

Dipper felt his face redden even more. How had it come to this? Thanks Mabel…

'Yeah, alright,' he replied, removing his clamp from Mabel's face. She let out a giggle and leaned over to whisper in Dipper's ear.

' _Your little secret is out, bro-bro! Just be glad I'm not telling them who it is!_ '

' _Don't you dare – and if you do I'll tell them that you tried to date a bunch of gnomes that forced you to be their queen!'_

o00o

They were getting close. The _Speedy Beaver_ had passed by several minutes ago, and Dipper could see the water tower.

'We're nearly there Mabel,' he said, staring out the window. Dipper really wanted to see the town again, but he knew that the Mystery Shack was about a mile out to the south, so he would need to wait until later.

'I know brosif, you're not the only one who's looking out the window.'

'This one?' asked their father, pointing at an upcoming turn-off.

'Yeah,' Dipper and Mabel replied in unison. They turned and headed up what Stan called 'the drive', the Mystery Shack looming in the distance. Dipper saw the totem pole, the thatched roof – the first letter in SHACK was still missing – and the chimney, the wind vane and the signs ('World Famous' and 'Enter'). The windows and wooden walls came into view, the gift shop door, the Pitt Cola machine…

It was good to be home. Well, not home. Back in Gravity Falls. Still, this place felt like home. Dipper assumed that Stan was inside, hassling tourists and pick pocketing them as they perused through the museum and gift shop. He was feeling nostalgic – was that possible if only a year had passed. The Land Rover slid to a halt and the twins said good-bye to their parents, promising them that they would be good and listen to Stan, etcetera. They grabbed their luggage from the trunk and headed towards the Shack.

'Ahh… I've missed this old place,' said Mabel, stretching her neck. Dipper smiled at her and opened the door to the gift shop.

'Dipper!'

He barely had time to process his name before he was smothered by a girl throwing herself at him in a vicious hug. Dipper didn't need to check who it was. He squeezed Pacifica back and they staggered out of the doorway so Mabel could get through. She didn't move through straight away, making some last gestures at their parents.

'I missed you so much…' Pacifica said into Dipper's shoulder. Normally their hugs wouldn't be this long, but Dipper knew she was making up for lost time. He instinctively smelled her hair. It was clean, shampooed and conditioned and smelt of bath salt.

'I missed you too Paz,' he replied, nuzzling her a little. Pacifica pulled back and Mabel waved at her as she entered the gift shop. Dipper got his first good look at her.

She was more attractive than last summer. Brilliant. No saying goodbye to that crush then. She was wearing a loose t-shirt, skinny jeans and socks. She was taller too – she hadn't grown as much as Dipper, but was still tall enough to be just about eye level with him. She was wearing barely any makeup – natural eyebrows, rosy cheeks, none of that ludicrous purple eye-shadow. She looked like anyone else in this town would. Dipper decided that he liked the new Pacifica on the outside, he just hoped it would be the same on the inside.

'How'd you get in here without Stan noticing?' Dipper asked. Last summer, Stan would refuse Pacifica entry into the Shack unless she promised to not be the 'hypocritical rich kid' she had been before. Dipper had tried several times to explain to Stan that people change, but he wouldn't here it.

'Oh, Mr Pines and I get along pretty well now. I give him money if he needs it, he gives me a place to stay if I need it.'

'A place to stay?' asked Dipper, worried, 'What happened with your parents?'

'I'll tell you later,' she said, waving a hand dismissively at him, 'In the mean time…'

She pulled him into another hug.

'We haven't seen each other in nine months, so I think that's reason enough for a little extra.'

Dipper simply shrugged and wrapped his arms around his best friend, wondering to himself how long he'd be able to bottle up his feelings for her.

o00o

'Did you get any of what Mabel was trying to tell us back there?' asked Mr Pines, driving the Land Rover through the Oregon forest.

'Honey, you're vision is really deteriorating. Of course I understood.'

'Well, out with it then.'

'Did you see that girl that attacked Dipper as soon as he opened the door.'

'Attacked? Is he alright?'

His wife rolled her eyes.

'Hugged him, dear.'

'Oh, right. Yeah, I saw her.'

'It's her. She's the one he has a crush on.'

Silence. His wife was letting him think.

'Let kids be kids, honey. What are the chances that a dorky, bookish type like Dipper will get together with some high-end valley girl before they're out of middle school?'

 **FORESHADOWING OUT OF 10**

 ***ahem***

 **I'm back everyone! Sorry it's been a little while (exams are coming up, you know the deal)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone! It was a little messy but getting the whole moving back to Gravity Falls thing right was difficult. Thanks for a bunch more favorites, follows and reviews too!**

 **Cal-Pal - *has a vision of a pep squad behind me while I'm writing cheering me on***

 **LimitlessHorizons – You've put in 3 reviews since the last time I responded to them, so here goes. Seriously, thanks for your critical analysis on this story (it's really helpful). I'm going to take on board your suggestion for Mabel to get to know Pacifica a little better (probably going to use it for the next chapter), so thankyou.**

 **Fysical – Get your wifi working bro, gotta read read read ;p**

 **overlordpringerx – The Multi-bear has several faces; punch him a couple of times and you'll feel manlier than ever my friend. Glad you're enjoying the story!**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – Ahahaha, thankyou. But srsly tho, don't kill me in a psychopathic rage, I can't write if I'm dead.**

 **oasis shotzz 678 – Thanks I'm glad you liked it. Spellcheck is God :D**

 **T.N.Q – How many O's is that? *counts them* Must've been pretty kawaii if you gotta put 8 O's in the word 'so' to meet its standard. I'm happy that you're enjoying the story.**

 **trainwk1 – Thankyou, I do plan on continuing this story until it has around 18 – 20 chapters. We'll see what happens.**


	9. Part 2 Chapter 2 : Flames

**HELLO! YES I'M STILL ALIVE! These past few weeks have been pretty stressful on my end, with exams and a couple of other things I'd rather not mention, but enough about me. I've made this chapter extra long, so I hope you guys like it (I need to make up after all)**

Dipper stared into the fire. He watched from his perch on the log as the sparks sprung out from the blaze and ascended into the sky. The toungues of flame licked at his shoes, unable to break free of the coal and firewood. He held out his hands to warm them against the orange glow.

He decided that he liked Gravity Falls for the simple things – the small fires Stanley would light on chilly evenings because it got too cold down in the lab, the various sweaters Mabel would knit for herself, her friends and the occaisional one for Dipper, the stupid jokes that his great-uncle made and the horrible facade he put on whilst managing the gift shop, Soos and his handyman antics, Wendy and her laid-back attitude, Waddles and his adorable squeals.

And he couldn't forget Pacifica, his best friend – the way she tilted her head back when she laughed, her brilliant smile, her adorable pouting face, her playful aggressiveness and too many other aspects to describe.

It was really no wonder he was in love with her.

Lost in thought, Dipper stared at the flames. A fire is one of the only things in the world that is still enthralling no matter how long you look at it. Its infinite variety and complexity – the flames build, they die down, they build again, a piece of firewood cracks and splits into two, the coals light up and a blast of warmth radiates out to the arms and legs crowded around waiting to be heated up.

Until something touches you, that is.

Dipper felt something being pressed around his head. It instantly felt familiar and friendly.

'Your head looked cold,' said Pacifica from behind him. Dipper reached up and took the hat off of his head. Sure enough, it was the same hat he had chosen from the Gravity Falls gift shop a year ago. He was surprised it still fitted him.

'Where was it?' he asked. Pacifica vaulted herself over the log and sat next to him.

'Mabel found it in the attic. She was digging through a closet and chucked this at me, muttering something about an invisible wizard.'

'Classic Mabel,' Dipper replied. He put the beloved hat back on his head and returned his hands to the warmth.

'So, how was your year? You still haven't told me anything,' she said. Dipper shrugged.

'Same old same old, really,' he replied. Pacifica frowned at him.

'Really? No major life events, no holidays, no really good Christmas or birthday presents?'

'What can I say, Piedmont isn't nearly as exciting or as wacky as Gravity Falls. But, something happened with you, didn't it? You still haven't told me why you've been staying nights at the Mystery Shack the past few months.'

'Oh, right,' Pacifica said, shifting a little. She pulled her hair around and threw it over her shoulder, obscuring half her face from Dipper.

'So… you know how my parent's can't control me with that stupid bell anymore, right?'

Dipper nodded.

'Well, it was just after I got your birthday letter, actually. My parents had organised a snobby dinner with all the high-class snoots that they always invite to gatherings to celebrate my birthday, and I told them that I just wanted to go into town with some friends.'

'What happened?' asked Dipper, trying not to interrupt too much.

'They wouldn't let me. They told me that I was becoming a "proper young lady" now and I needed to show that I was as regal as they want me to be. Yeah, right.'

'So what'd you do?'

'I talked back. It was the first time since that night at the mansion that I'd retaliated to anything that they'd said.'

Dipper paused. He didn't know what Pacifica's parents had done, but it was bad. She turned away from him, pulling her hair around her neck like a scarf. He waited, not wanting to interrupt her. After what seemed like an age, she turned back to him.

Her eyes were red, hot tears heated by the fire running down her cheeks.

'Paz?'

Pacifica burst into tears. She threw herself at Dipper and cried into his shoulder. Dipper didn't know how to respond. He awkwardly put his arms around her.

'Shh… it's OK…' he said, trying to be soothing. Eventually she regained her composure and pulled back. She looked at the ground.

'They… they beat me, Dipper! They started attacking me! The… the butlers, they pulled them off me as soon as they could, but… but…'

She burst into tears again. Dipper knew what to do this time. He reached out and took her hand in his, gently caressing her palm with his thumb.

'I'm here Paz, it's OK.'

Another few minutes passed. Dipper had to wait once again for her crying to die down. She was lucky that she wasn't wearing much makeup – otherwise her face would've been a hundred times messier than it was.

'An… anyway, the butlers got them off of me in time to let me escape. I ran out the gates and down the road. I didn't know where to go or what to do, but I eventually stumbled across the Mystery Shack.'

'And Stan let you stay here once he saw the state of you,' Dipper finished. Pacifica nodded at him.

'I always thought Mr Pines hated me… I was expecting to sleep outside that night.' Dipper smiled at her.

'Stan's not such a hard guy. If you can break through his shell, he's really soft inside.'

Pacifica smiled back and put her head on his shoulder. Looking into the flames, Dipper noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

'Paz, what's that?' he asked, pointing at her neck. She blushed and pulled her hair around tighter.

'Um, it's… it's nothing. Don't worry about it,' she replied, her voice wavering. Dipper reached over and pulled her hair out of the way before she could react.

There was a massive bruise on the side of Pacifica's neck. Dipper felt himself seethe with hate for Pacifica's parents. How could they do this to their daughter? Their beautiful, perfect daughter, who any other parent with would be happy with in every way? It made Dipper sick. He wanted to keep Pacifica safe from them, away from them.

He stood up and locked eyes with her. Pacifica could see the anger welling up in them.

'Dip, please, don't,' she said, shaking her head at him, 'They will destroy you too. I know they will. Please, stay out of this.'

Dipper had to fight every inch of his consciousness to not scream out with rage. He wanted to go up to the mansion and he wanted her parents to feel what it was like to be on the receiving end of what they had done to their daughter. He gritted his teeth.

Pacifica stood up and put her hands on his shoulders. He looked at her with a mix of anger and concern. She looked at him with worry.

'Please, I don't want to see it happen to you too, Dipper,' she pleaded, getting up. She put a hand on his shoulder. Instantly, he felt the calm energy flowing back into his body. There was something about the tender touch of someone you loved that was so powerful. Just one hand could quell the mightiest of rages. Dipper stopped shaking and sat back down.

'You okay?' she asked. Dipper nodded, looking at the fire. Her hand moved from his shoulder into his hand.

'I'm alright. Maybe we should do something else for the time being.'

'Good idea,' she replied, smiling at him and squeezing his hand. They got up and headed inside to find something else to do. Mabel and Stan were out and Soos and Wendy had finished for the day, so they had the whole Shack to themselves.

o00o

Mabel came home late. She had been at Candy's place, and Grenda had been using her phone to try and get in touch with Marius. No such luck, international calls are pretty expensive. Eventually they had resigned to waiting until the Northwest Fest, and Mabel had headed back to the Mystery Shack.

'I'm back!' she called, closing the door behind her. Instantly she stopped as she saw the scene in front of her.

Her first reaction was to giggle.

In front of her, Dipper and Pacifica were huddled up together on the tiny armchair, asleep. The credits of some Western movie were playing. Pacifica had bunched her legs up to her chest and Dipper had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Mabel had the brilliant idea that she should take photos, but she changed her mind when she saw Pacifica's face.

She had been crying. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Her cheeks were red and she could see the remnants of the tears quivering on her eyelashes. This wasn't a romantic situation, but more of a hurt or comfort one. For once, Mabel found it in her best interest to leave them be. No cheeky photos, no scrapbook opportunities, no nothing. At the moment, the best thing they could do was sleep.

'Goodnight, bro,' she said, 'and good luck.'

Mabel giggled a little and tiptoed up the stairs to the attic.

 **Review time!**

 **Fysical – I might add Mabel's friends at some point, I'm not really sure where I could fit them in, but I'll try. At this stage incorporating a CanDip element will be really tricky, so most likely it won't happen. Sorry. I've got so many suggestions it's hard for me to fit everything in, adding another pairing would make things over complicated. Thanks for your ongoing support though!**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – Haha, glad to see you're hyped for my writing. I don't actually support any other Gravity Falls ships at the moment (not with any other characters either). In other fandoms I've got a few that I support, but Dipper x Pacifica is my OTP, and although I used to support WenDip, it won't be showing up in this story.**

 **LimitlessHorizon – Wow another massive review. Keep that up and I'll need to hire you as an editor :p. You pretty much predicted what was going to happen in this chapter, and you are right, this is going to become a pretty big part of Pacifica's character arc. Thanks once again and hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

 **lennoxmacduffes – Haha, thankyou. You'll need to wait 'til the end of this part to find out what Wendy thinks of Dipper and Pacifca. (Love your username by the way, I recently performed in a production of Macbeth for my school drama class)**

 **TheSakuraHunter - *tfw another author who's writing you are enjoying reviews your story*. Ahaha, because I love your writing (should probably review Northwest Mansion Exploration at some point), I decided to bring back to hat in this chapter just for you (you're welcome). Glad you like the story! (also exams I know right what a pain in the neck ughhh)**

 **Talons – PG13 bro, I'm not going anywhere near that stuff, let's tone it down a bit :p.**

 **bull poli – Thanks! Also, yes, I have planned a sleepover chapter for a while now – it is coming.**

 **overlordpringerx – Why? What happened? It didn't eat you did it? If you get eaten, I'll be sad cos you can't read my story :p**

 **SecondBeat – Thanks! Don't have much time to write at the moment, but I'm trying my best.**

 **Rorscarch – Ooh I don't know about that. I've got an idea for the last chapter (nothing too kinky – they're 13 remember), and I might be able to implement their parents. Thanks for your suggestion!**


	10. Part 2 Chapter 3 : Truth

**Hey friends! I've been worried about the relationship between Dipper and Pacifica seeming a little too over the top recently, so this chapter appeared as both part of the story and an explanation for any of you folks out there who want the realism to be top notch. Hope you like it! (Also, PLEASE make sure to read the A.N. at the end of this chapter, I've got a little announcement)**

Mabel was excited. She had convinced Pacifica to go on a shopping trip with her. Mabel had told her that she wanted to get 'better acquainted' with her, which was partially true. After her radical transformation, Pacifica had become a far better person – she was much kinder, gentler and softer. However, Mabel's ulterior motive was the main reason she had called her up a few nights before.

She whistled as she made her cereal. Dipper came down the stairs and looked weirdly at her.

'You alright there Mabel?'

'I'm great thanks bro,' she said, pouring milk into her bowl. 'Another day in Gravity Falls. Isn't it awesome to be back?' Dipper smiled at her and headed into the living room.

Today, if everything went to plan, Mabel would find out how Pacifica felt about Dipper. They went along like two peas in a pot, always cuddling up to one another. Mabel had quizzed Dipper about it before, and his usual response was go red in the face and avoid the question, but on the odd occasion he had spoke, he had assumed that she sought comfort and protection, to make up for cardboard cut-outs her parents were. Dipper was her shield. Mabel had thought it over several times, drawing up meticulous plans and ideas in her scrapbook, and today was the day that her plan would be coming together.

She thought she should get warmed up by seeing if she could squeeze anything else out of Dipper.

'Hey, Dipper, I've been meaning to ask, why is Pacifica so close to you?' she mentioned casually at the breakfast table while Dipper read a newspaper. Unsurprisingly, his face flushed red and he brought the paper up to hide his cheeks.

'I've told you before Mabel, because she can't go to her parents and from what I've seen her other friends couldn't care less about her – they just follow her around for the perks of knowing her.'

'Bro, come on,' probed Mabel, searching for the right words to get what she was looking for, 'you're practically a human sized teddy bear for her.'

'So?' asked Dipper, getting both angrier and redder by the second, 'Her parents didn't love her enough to get her a teddy bear, why does it matter?'

Bingo. There was that word. The one starting with L. Mabel made sure to purposefully change her expression.

'Wait, you're saying that… Oh my God, Dipper! If Pacifica doesn't love her parents, maybe she has no choice but to _love_ you instead! She _loves_ you, Dipper!'

'What?' asked Dipper, now completely hidden behind the paper, 'Pacifica doesn't… I mean I hope she… just leave it, Mabel!'

His sister smirked at him as he stormed off. Mission accomplished. Time to investigate the other side.

o00o

Mabel waited at the entrance to the Gravity Falls mall. It wasn't like Pacifica to be late, but she had the time to spare. While she waited, she thought about Dipper. He seemed pretty cut up after the talk they had had earlier, but Mabel knew he was used to it. It had been the same with Wendy. He knew it was just banter.

Pacifica's car pulled up. Well, Mabel assumed it was her car. Black limousine, tinted windows, fancy man in the front. The blonde in question climbed out the rear door. Her attire did not suit the vehicle she had just got out of. She was wearing her favorite pair of torn jeans, a light pink polo and slightly darker jacket and her hair was tied in a low ponytail. She was also carrying a purse that Mabel knew would be full of notes that would soon disappear.

'Thanks Jeremy!' she said, waving off the driver and closing the door. Mabel liked it when Pacifica was courteous. For some reason, when someone who grew up not needing to use manners, hearing them say 'please' or 'thank you' was like a massage for the ears.

'Sorry I'm late,' Pacifica said, adjusting her bangs. Mabel shook her head.

'It's fine, if anything I was early.'

Pacifica laughed. 'Come on, let's go! There's a bunch of places I wanna show you!'

She was comfortable. Perfect. Mabel could tell this wasn't going to be too hard. Although, for now, it was probably best to just enjoy a girl's day out. After all, Mabel was the one who would come home with bags loaded with loot that Pacifica had forked out for. She might as well let it happen.

o00o

Mabel and Pacifica sat at a table in the food court, sipping milkshakes. The space around their table was walled off by a barricade of plastic bags, full of purchases. 'A fine day's work,' Pacifica had said once they decided to stop with the clothes and head down for a drink. Mabel had thoroughly enjoyed herself. Dipper was right about Pacifica changing, she was a completely different person now. They had bonded throughout the excursion and Mabel was glad she had come, almost forgetting completely about the main reason she showed up.

'This reminds me of the time I came to get new clothes for Dipper last summer,' she said.

Suddenly, Mabel was back in action. 'You two sure spend an awful lot of time with one another.'

'I guess,' Pacifica said, 'He's my only real friend – I mean, apart from you – and he actually cares about me, unlike my parents.'

'Still,' Mabel replied, sucking the strawberry bubbles out of her glass, 'it seems a little weird for the two of you guys to be _that_ close. Most people our age are super-sensitive to that kinda stuff.'

'Like what?' asked Pacifica, clearly confused.

'Oh, like cuddling or play-fighting, that's the kind of stuff most kids do with their parents, not with their friends.'

A pause. Mabel looked up at Pacifica. She was hurt. Of course, Pacifica didn't know what was right and what was wrong in that sense. She had grown up with people who didn't love her for who she was one ounce. They only cared about the prestige of having a perfect daughter.

'Sorry…' said Mabel. Pacifica waved dismissively.

'It's okay.'

'Anybody else who saw the way you guys act would've thought you were a couple.'

Pacifica became immediately flustered at this.

'Are you serious?'

'Yeah, sure,' Mabel replied, trying to be casual about it. She put on a smirk, 'Although, if you were a couple, you and Dipper would be pretty cute together.'

'Me and Dipper…' Pacifica said quietly, struggling to find the words. Mabel leaned in closer.

'You don't have a crush on him, do you?'

There it went. The crucial question. An awkward pause lingered as the bustle of the mall echoed around them.

'Don't you dare tell him,' Pacifica whispered at her through gritted teeth.

Wow. That wasn't what Mabel was expecting. She had asked girls back home the same thing, and they would straight out deny it. There was nothing more embarrassing than being asked if you have a crush on someone, unless you didn't have a crush on them. That was her experience. Mabel let out a little giggle.

'Promise,' she replied, standing up and collecting her bags. This was great! Dipper and Pacifica both had feelings for each other. But she still had a choice to make – should she try to set them up, or let nature run it's course?

 **This chapter was a little clunky, but I'm still happy with it.**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT - We have officially reached (about) the halfway point of this story, and to celebrate, I'm going to be answering ANY questions from you guys – the readers – best I can. They can be about anything; any questions about what's going to happen in the story, any plotlines you want resolved (odds are I will have forgotten a few), stuff about what's going on in my life, I don't really care and I just want to get associated with the FanFiction community a little better. So, in a couple of chapters, I will be working on a Q &A – PLEASE LEAVE ANY QUESTIONS IN THE REVIEWS! I know these sorts of things seem like cop-outs, but I will be doing my best to upload chapters every so often too.**

 **And now, the reviews.**

 **Fysical – I'm a guy, btw :p. Haha that's one of my favorite quotes from the show!**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – Oh my Lord, yes, the new episode was brilliant, I can actually call the author by his name now! (you may have noticed I was avoiding it before).**

 **overlordpirngerx – Oh thank God :D**

 **phoenixhunter300 – Ahaha, thanks!**

 **MrZealous21701 – It was a long wait yeah. I'm probably not going to be including Bill in this story (largely because I don't like him that much as a character and I suck at writing him – definitely on the wrong end of the spectrum here, but whatever). Thanks!**

 **Draven165 – Thanks! I'm probably not going add much competition for Pacifica, although I might consider something later on (I've bailed out on another guy before about incorporating a jealousy element, so probably I won't do it just because that wouldn't be fair). So cool that you're hyped for the story!**

 **ShipperMan – He speaks the words of truth. It's a hard slog, my friend, but I'm doing my best.**

 **ForgetfulDaffodil – Wow. I might add this in somewhere, definitely want to keep this story trivial in a way. Thanks!**

 **Rorscarch – Woohoo is right! Mr and Mrs Pines will definitely be present in the last chapter, thanks for the idea! It might not mean stumbling into Dipper and Pacifica, but words will definitely be said (if you get my drift).**

 **lennoxmacduffes – Naturally!**

 **THEFED123 – Aww thankyou! These types of reviews are the kind of stuff that keeps me going – thanks so much!**


	11. Part 2 Chapter 4 : Pain

**Okay, so, I realize that I have some explaining to do.**

 **I've been in and out (mostly in) of hospital for the last 2 months. I had pneumonia, something very nasty for people born prematurely like me (I have weak lungs, so when I get sick, I** ** _really_** **get sick). I nearly died. Twice. I got out for about a week and a half when they thought I was getting better, but of course it came back, so it was another three weeks of hospital for me. Catching up at school has chewed up my time too, but I'm alright now (I hope), and I can get back to writing.**

 **Anyway, enough about me, here's the long awaited update. I've made it especially long to make up for lost time**

 **-=- DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE Q &A THAT I'M ORGANIZING, ANYTHING ABOUT THE STORY, MY LIFE, THEORIES ABOUT THE SHOW, WHATEVER! LEAVE QUESTIONS IN THE REVIEWS! MORE INFO IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER -=-**

Stan Pines was a night bug. There was not much point in going to sleep until after midnight, things could be done. Most of those things happened to be illegal, but still. Some nights he would go out and blatantly break the law while the kids were asleep, and others he would simply sit on the couch in his underwear listening to the tink and clammer of tools as Ford worked in the basement. He didn't know what he was doing down there, probably just some nerd thing that he was building.

He had been staying home more often recently, for several reasons. He was, unbelievably, getting bored of crime. Admittedly his misconduct was due to the lack of others who he could interact, but now that he was on friendly terms with his brother and both the kids were over, it was a different story. He'd also developed an uncanny friendship with one of the kids from town. She got along well with Dipper and Mabel too, which was always good.

Pacifica Northwest used to be a stuck-up, chemical coated ditz who only cared about herself. Stan had considered punching her several times before her reformation, as well as phoning the police (that's right, Stan Pines, _phoning the police_ ) to warrant an arrest on her for wearing too much make-up. Now she had changed. Something had clicked inside her around about the Northwest Fest last year. Stan didn't know what it was or what had happened, but according to Mabel she had "met Dipper", followed by a string of giggles. Either way, she had changed for the better and Stan found he could cancel at least one of his orders for punching bags shaped as faces.

There was a knock at the door. Stan took a few moments to register it. ' _Really? At this hour?'_ he asked himself. Then he remembered that there was only ever one person who came to the Mystery Shack at 10pm. He ran into his room to get his dressing gown.

Pacifica's parents were abusive. It was infrequent, but he had heard whispers of the butlers who worked in the mansion being hit, kicked and shoved for messing up the tiniest things. Their daughter was no exception. Starting around December the previous year, Pacifica had showed up at the Mystery Shack late at night every so often wanting to stay the night. Her parent's might have kicked her out, she might have run away or something of that nature. After showing up in February one night with a black eye and a cut lip, Stan had made it one of his biggest priorities to look after her. It didn't matter how hard he tried to bottle up his feelings, he couldn't bear to see any friends of his niece and nephew like that.

Stan grabbed his dressing gown, robed and ran to the door. He pulled it open.

'Pacifica! What's happened?'

She was standing out in the cold. Stan stood aside to let her in and instinctively scanned for bruises. Her face was fine, her neck didn't look too bad. She was wearing a winter jacket and gloves, obviously in an attempt to ward off the cold. Her hair was untidy and she wasn't wearing any jewelry. Her socks were pulled up high and her legs were covered in goosebumps and…

'I need some ice, Stan. My legs are aching like hell.'

The red zebra pattern on her calves was familiar to Stan, from the Columbian prison days. They had caned her. The monsters. He growled to himself and ran upstairs to get Dipper and Mabel up. He would need back-up on this one.

o00o

Dipper was enjoying his book. It was called _Three Bags Full_ , a crime fiction novel, by far his favorite genre. This particular book was about a flock of sheep who solve the murder of their shepherd. It was pretty good, actually, a break from the other mysteries he usually read. He was only half focusing though, making sure not to keep Mabel up with pen-clicks and other side effects of late-night summer reading. The problem with this though was that he noticed everything that was happening downstairs. Every time Grunkle Stan got up to go into the kitchen he heard the creaking of the floorboards, the rustle of the ChipackerzTM packets and the obscenely loud crunching noise he made as he ate. Dipper found himself getting annoyed after a few hours of this.

' _So this is how Mabel feels when I read_ ,' he thought as there was a knock at the door.

' _Wait, what? Who's coming to visit this late?_ '

There was silence from downstairs. Dipper waited and listened. Running. Stan must've been confused as well.

He could tell when the door had been opened. The attic was unfortunately not very well built and the wind from outside found it's way into the room through the floorboards. There was talking from downstairs. Dipper closed his book and slipped out of bed. He was about to go downstairs but had second thoughts once he heard Stan bounding up to the attic. He burst into the room.

'Dipper! You're awake, good. Pacifica is downstairs, I need you to go to the kitchen and get her some ice, something bad has happened. I'll wake up Mabel.'

It took Dipper a few moments to process what Stan had said. Then he remembered.

 _'They… they beat me, Dipper! They started attacking me!'_

 _'The butlers got them off of me in time to let me escape…'_

 _'I didn't know where to go or what to do, but I eventually stumbled across the Mystery Shack'_

He ran out of the room and bolted down the stairs.

o00o

Pacifica was not in a good way. She was sitting in the couch and Dipper and Mabel had moved the dinosaur skull so that she could use it as a footrest. She had taken off her jacket and had a collection of tea towels tied around her legs, her calves being cooled by zip-lock bags filled with ice. She was holding a cup of hot chocolate but wasn't drinking it. The four Pines were spread throughout the room. Dipper sat on the ground and lent up against the side of the sofa. Mabel lent against the doorway looking worried. Stan was pacing up and down the room, looking at his feet. Ford was sitting at the table, refusing to stop working, but still worried enough to look up and see how Pacifica was going every few minutes.

Dipper had gotten downstairs first. After finding her slumped against the door frame, he went into anxiety mode. Within seconds he had gotten into the kitchen, found some ice and come back. He helped her into the couch and saw the marks on the backs of her legs. Everything after that was a blur. Mabel and Stan had come downstairs, Stan running past into the gift shop to get Ford. They had set up her temporary hospital bed and now they waited. Pacifica had insisted that they not fawn over her. She just needed to wait and let the ice do its job. Stan was mumbling to himself, running his hands through his thinning hair. Ford looked up from his book.

'Stan, do you want me to go upstairs and set up a bed?' he said. Mabel raised her hand.

'I'll do it. Where's the spare mattress?'

'It's in the closet,' said Stan, scratching his head, 'I moved it there once Pacifica started sleeping here, because I can't be bothered changing you guys' sheets.'

Mabel nodded and smiled weakly at Pacifica. She had her eyes closed, concentrating on suppressing the pain. Mabel turned around and skipped up the stairs.

'I'm sorry,' said Pacifica, grimacing in pain as a tear rolled down her cheek. Dipper got himself up off the floor and sat on the arm of the chair.

'No. Nobody should be sorry. We're here to help, Paz.'

Pacifica smiled through her discomfort. Silence. They were letting her recover, so she thought. She thought about several things. Her parents, and how much she hated them. Lots of kids dream about being rich or popular, and Pacifica was both, but she'd give anything to have a mediocre home and a mediocre life if it meant getting away from her parents. She thought about the Mystery Shack, about how she had been accepted here on a whim by somebody who she'd thought was a crusty old man who was only interested in money until she met him, about how all the people under this roof somehow had better lives than her. The irony. She let out a small half-laugh as Mabel came back into the room.

'Huh?' she asked. Stan stopped pacing and looked at the kids.

'Nothing,' said Pacifica, shaking her head and opening her eyes, 'Just thinking.'

'You sound like you're feeling better,' said Stan. Pacifica noticed that most of the pain was leaving her legs and the resealable bags were now filled with cold water.

'How long did it take Mabel to make my bed?' she asked, starting to move her feet off of the dinosaur skull. Ford checked his watch.

'It's quarter past one. About thirty minutes.'

'It took me a while to get it perfect,' Mabel explained happily. Pacifica rolled her eyes and stood up. Dipper got off the arm of the chair.

'You alright?' he said. Pacifica wobbled a little as the tea towels slid down to her ankles, but the swelling on the backs of her legs had gone down. She knew that she'd have some nice big bruises the next day, but hopefully she'd be able to get some sleep.

'Yeah,' she replied. Dipper bent down and untied the tea towels.

'Kids, can you help Pacifica into bed?' asked Stan, 'I'm going to stay up a little longer.'

'No worries, Grunkle Stan,' said Mabel.

It took them a while to get up the stairs. They just had to take it slow. Once they reached the landing Dipper opened the door to the attic.

Mabel had unsurprisingly placed Pacifica's mattress closer to Dipper's bed than her own. He growled to himself and went inside. There was an assortment of soft toys that Mabel had donated to Pacifica for the night, and she had double pillows.

'I tried to replicate what I imagine your bed is like at home,' said Mabel, helping Pacifica through the door. Pacifica looked at the sleeping arrangements.

'Thanks,' she said, trying to hold the sincerity. She too noticed the proximity of Dipper's bed to her own. Not that she minded, but she wished Mabel could stay out of her personal life, she was a bit too over the top sometimes, and it didn't help when it involved her brother.

'Sleep?' asked Dipper. Pacifica and Mabel nodded.

'Sleep,' they agreed. No further questions were asked. Pacifica knew that they were trying to look after her, let her recover. She'd been to sleepover's before, with her other "friends", where she would muck around and have goofy pillow fights and play games and tell stories and laugh. She smiled at the irony of the name as the twins lowered her onto the mattress. This was a real sleepover, with real sleep. Exactly what she needed.

'Sorted,' said Mabel as they pulled the duvet over Pacifica. Dipper yawned.

'I'm done for today. Your legs aren't hurting are they Pacifica?'

She shook her head. The twins shared a glance before clambering into their own beds.

'Night,' said Mabel, using her old grappling hook to destroy another one of the lanterns.

'Night,' said Pacifica. Dipper grumbled and said something along the lines of _'Sleep now, talk later'_.

o00o

Mabel could never remember exactly when she fell asleep. There's a sort of semi-consciousness stage between being awake and being asleep, as you let your eyes un-glue and let the morning flood in. Sometimes, however, there is a trigger, something that has you up in a snap.

As she woke up, Mabel saw something through the haze of her eyelashes that caught her attention. Yes! Her plan had worked! Sort of…

Dipper and Pacifica were both still asleep, but that didn't make this any less of a scrapbook opportunity. They were holding hands. Or they had been. Dipper's arm was hanging off his bed, Pacifica's hand spread out underneath it. Mabel loved the simplicity of their relationship. They weren't extreme enough to be dating or anything, but they clearly weren't "just friends". Mabel took a happy snap with the camera she kept in the drawer and made a mental note to add a page to her _Summer_ _Memories_ book later.

"You're getting closer, bro," she whispered, tiptoeing out of the room to take a shower.

 **Yes, you've read sleepover Dipifica chapters before. No, I don't think you've seen anything like this before. I know you guys love the fluff, but I had to look at a couple of different things in this chapter (still included a bit of aww at the end though). Hope you like it! I'm on holidays, so I'll try to put out at least two chapters in the next two weeks. After that (with catching up at school and everything), we'll see what happens.**

 **Review time!**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – Thanks so much, sorry you've had to wait for so long.**

 **T.N.Q – You can't wait to see them get together (*hint* the wait will be over soon my friend *hint*)**

 **TheSakuraHunter – Hey. I'm pretty hyped for how far I've gotten through too (even after the stall of the last while). I'll make sure to include your questions in the Q &A, and thanks :D**

 **LaughingxCries – I'm sorry you've had to hang onto the edge of your seat for so long, but I'm super happy your enjoying it.**

 **Dipper The SkyChaser – OK OK OK (sorry for being sick) OK OK** **J**

 **AEceros (three reviews in one!) – I feel like this is such a proper and well thought out review (because it is hehe). I'm so honored that your calling this your favorite Dipifica fluff story. The tone should stay failry light-hearted (I've got darker themes coming later, but that'll be only a couple chapters here and there). The ending will be sweet, don't worry!**

 **joseftanti - *love (IT'S NOT OVER YET, SUNSHINE! – of course I'll continue it).**


	12. Part 2 Chapter 5 : Voices

***internally screaming at my antibodies for not working…* I HATE PNEUMONIA**

 **I'm gonna put it down to a Christmas miracle that I'm even alive.**

 **Still not dead, but I haven't had much of a life for the better part of this year. They decided I'm well enough to spend the festive season with my family, and hopefully I won't need to go back to a hospital ever again in my life. I've been sorta neglecting the fluff for the last little while, but I'll get to that, don't worry. Here's a bit of a different style of chapter for you guys…**

Although Mabel was basically the master of cutting and pasting, she hated lots of words right next to each other. Scrap-booking was great for pictures and little quotes, but huge slabs of text weren't very nice to look at, in her opinion.

Matchmaking was a whole new process this year. Meticulous planning and speculation were key to make sure a relationship would work, and she was slowly gathering a whole database on her new project.

Her brother and his best friend.

She had everything – adorable pictures, cute flirty quotes they'd pulled on each other, markings in the margins and massive diagrams going over every possible obstacle in the way of Dipper and Pacifica getting into a relationship. She'd tried everything and had come to the conclusion that they were pretty much perfect for each other…

'… but they're still not together!' Mabel muttered under her breath. She grabbed the voice recorder from under her bed and turned it on. Mabel wanted everyone's ( _everyone's_ ) opinion on this, and she had taken the liberty of going around and taking verbal surveys from every living organism within arm's length. Writing on paper was simply too hard for the lazy summer's of Gravity Falls and she wouldn't have read them anyway, so voice recording was the best way to go.

'Alright, Grenda let's see what you've got for me…' she said, putting the little box in front of her and starting the playback. She had recorded these a little while back and Mabel had completely forgotten about them until she found the voice recorder while horsing around in the attic with her grappling hook.

 _"Your brother and Pacifica? Oh my god, Mabel, you know I ship it. Have you seen them walking around town together? They don't hold hands or anything but the way they talk itself is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Do you remember that time I came over to your house and they were asleep on the couch together? SO adorable."_

Mabel quickly drew up a table and ticked off Grenda's name. Victory number one. With enough peer pressure she could just about coerce Dipper and Pacifica to get together. Candy was next.

 _"Dipper and Pacifica? I hope she knows what she's getting into, remember that time when I liked Dipper for about three hours? He had like ten girlfriends!"_

'Damnit Candy!' said Mabel, putting a cross next to her name. Of course, Candy had that stint with Dipper while they were on the road trip around Oregon last summer… but to be fair it was Stan's fault that that had even happened, so it's not like Candy really knew what she was talking about. Speaking of Stan...

 _"Uh… no comment. And get out of the gift shop, I've got a busload of walking wallets coming in a few minutes."_

Well, thanks Stan. That wasn't a tick or a cross. She left the space next to Stan's name blank. Wendy would know what she was talking about… she'd probably be relieved that Dipper was finally into someone else.

 _"Mabel, I'm over this whole relationship biz, you know that right? Robbie put the cork in the bottle for me, and then before I knew it he was going out with Tambry. Lee and Nate have switched girlfriends and now you're telling me Dipper might be getting together with Pacifica? It's all moving too fast, you know? I'm a lumberjack by blood Mabel, I live life in the slow lane. You can't expect me to have any opinions on –"_

Mabel stopped the tape. How come nobody saw this the same way she did? Was she just too intense? Maybe she did move too quickly, just like Wendy said. Maybe it was better that Dipper and Pacifica weren't together yet, they seemed to be perfectly happy the way they were. She hit the play button again.

 _"Oh sure, hambone, they're like the opposites that attract. Lady and the Tramp, all that stuff."_

Soos. He is the sage, he is the wisdom. Mabel shuffled forward.

 _"But I get why they're not cutting corners, you know? Dipper's probably nervous and scared, and so is Pacifica. When I was a kid I never had the guts to ask a girl out, I didn't want to get rejected. The first time I tried I lost a good friend, she never talked to me again. That's why I was so stressed when you two were trying to get me a date for my cousin Reggie's engagement party, I was super worried about rejection. I dunno dude, but it's kind of a good thing not to rush into relationships. Melody and I only decided to go official over Christmas, and we're as happy as ever. Just let 'em do what they want to do. It'll happen Mabel, trust me."_

She cycled through the rest of the tapes, but didn't bother ticking or crossing names off. Soos had said it all, and she realised that it probably was best for Dipper and Pacifica to be just the way that they were. Mabel was about to turn off the recorder when another message played.

 _"Ah, you kids. You should be focusing on Pokémon and pop-tarts, none of this relationship stuff. I've seen the two of them around town, and I'll admit they go pretty well together, but honestly I'd say thirteen is riding the borderline."_

Mabel wasn't sure who that was. Just another stranger around town, but for some reason his voice stuck in her head. Was she too young to be focusing on relationships? So far all her boyfriends in Gravity Falls had been nothing but bust, and nothing much happened back in Piedmont over the year either.

 _"It'll happen Mabel, trust me."_

'Thanks,' she said, to just about everyone on the tape. No more pushing or shoving, not for other people's relationships anyway. Mabel grabbed her scrapbook and the voice recorder and shoved them back under her bed.

 **Well, there you have it folks. I had fun writing this, I've had a ton of time to think about how to do it, and I've been itching to get it out. Hope y'all like it. Next chapter I will try and make fluffier, I promise, because I know that's what you guys read for, but I wanna keep a serious and sort of educational element in here as well. Can't let this become a lemon (if you don't know what that means, look it up - urban dictionary is your friend)**

 **By the way, if you've got any questions about life, the universe and anything (or you know anything about me and my story), I'm doing a Q &A later once I finish this second section (which hopefully shouldn't be too long now that I'm out of hospital. Leave a favorite and a review if you haven't already and I'll hopefully see you guys soon!**

 **Reviews… (holy crap there's a whole ton of new ones)**

 **NickStriker – Thanks, I'm feeling a fair bit better now (still feels like there's a badger trapped in my chest though).**

 **joseftanti – Wish granted. Hopefully updates will be more frequent from now on.**

 **TheDarkMysteriousAuthor – I know, schoolwork is such a pain (and I've had so much catching up to do). I'm pretty sure now I've recovered, so thanks for your concern**

 **Fysical – Sorry to burden you with another long wait, hope this chapter was worth it.**

 **lennoxmacduffes – Yeah, for some reason FanFic writers tend to stick with the stuff that's reasonable within canon (It's understandable, but honestly guys, they call it fan** ** _fiction_** **for a reason)**

 **Nap Team Captain – Thanks xD**

 **Dipper The SkyChaser – Ahaha, you're welcome. Pokémon and pop-tarts is a quote from Alex Hirsch, the show's creator… I included it in this chapter as a bit of an easter egg.**

 **oopsidied – Your review is kind of ironic when I look at your username, but thanks :D**

 **Niskara – Thank you!**

 **Willigog – pls xD**

 **CloneNumber3 – Sorry for another wait… hope the chapter was good enough, and I should be updating more regularly in the future.**

 **the-author-my-brother – Ahaha thanks.**

 **Azukka – Yeah that's mostly the idea, I explored it in this chapter in a bit more depth, just to show why I'm not rushing them. Realism is my specialty and I'm trying to keep it like that as much as possible.**

 **Treehax – Ahahahaha, don't hold your breath xD**

 **Hondo The Turtle – Thanks, I'm planning to write in total about 20 chapters, we'll see how long I takes me to get everything down.**

 **Guest – Now that I read over chapter 4 again, she was kinda acting drunk… (cannot unsee)**


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